As the Father has loved me

Podcast

• Listen to this homily

Scripture references

• Acts 10:25-26; 34-35; 44-48
• 1 John 4:7-10
• John 15:9-17

Reflection

In these final days of the Easter season, the scriptures leave us with one message, as though all of Jesus’ life work were boiled down into a few words.  ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you’ (Jn 15:9).  He then continues the discourse, encouraging his disciples to ‘remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love (Jn 15:10).

At one level, love sounds like a wonderful thing, and indeed it is.  Love is a gift, given freely so that the receiver might grow to appreciate the gift that is shared, but it is much more than just a pious thing that makes us feel good.  Love helps us to bear all hardships and trials.  It fills us with joy, peace and contentment and love.  It has the mysterious property of growing stronger the more it is given away and shared.

It’s not always easy to love, but sometimes when we find ourselves in situations that test us, that stretch our understanding and our capacity to forgive, love can and often is the thing that allows us to widen our view, to become more accepting people, to see things in a different light and even to gain a bit of wisdom every now and then.

Many of you know that I was in Northern Saskatchewan this week for a series of meetings with priests from various parts of the country.  The trip home yesterday was supposed to last about five hours of travelling, and leave us about two hours of waiting for the connecting flights.  Thanks to delays of various kinds, I only arrived in Sudbury just before noon on Saturday, instead of late Friday night.  There were more than a few moments when most of us would have found it difficult to love because of delays, miscommunications and a host of other reasons.

The letter of John reminds us that we should strive always to love one another (1 Jn 4:7), but love is not always easy.  How do we continue to love when we are disheartened by the twists and turns of life, or when life becomes a struggle and a burden?  The strange thing about love, about God Himself, is that we can often be tempted to think that we don’t need either of them if things are going well in our lives, but when we get into troubled times, love and faith are always able to sustain us, even though we may not be able to recognize them or appreciate them at the time.

The full meaning of love was made known to us in the person of Jesus Christ.  He came among us to show us that it’s possible to love even our enemies.  Having experienced this love, the disciples were able to speak bravely about its power to overcome all obstacles, and even to endure suffering at the hands of those who would not believe them.

These men of faith have passed on a challenge to the rest of us (Acts 10:34-48).  Today, we are the ones who must continue to speak boldly in our world about the power of love.  We are the ones who must believe even more than ever before that love can make a difference and that even as we do our little part to share God’s gifts of love, that same love is given back to us in great abundance.  Sometimes it’s in the very act of loving that the full understanding and appreciation of it’s power is made known to us, and all we can do in return is marvel at the ability love has to unite us and to heal us.

Like Jesus’ first followers, let us not only listen to words that tell us about love, let us strive to be people of love.  We should not be content only to read about heroic acts of love, we should always be willing to seek out opportunities to engage in gestures of peace.  These are often the small things that make such a big difference in the lives of others, the building blocks that allow us to change the world, one day, one person, one gesture, one act of love at a time.